Emma's Story
by bookwtchery
Summary: One night changes everything. Doesn't it?


I'll never forget my first showoff competition in Alaska. It was a memorable time in so many ways, but not because of any medal. I didn't medal at all, in fact.

Well, I almost had. I had started the competition with a triple backflip while doing a 360. I heard the crowd go nuts as I landed without breaking my neck, and then again when I started to grind the first rail. I did a couple of 180's on the rail, nothing too fancy, just enough to gain some confidence. Then I hopped onto the ice and st arted my real work. By the first big turn I felt confident enough to pull of a knack-knack over the embankment, and then I proceeded to catch air whenever I could to pull off the most workable tricks I had been practicing. I managed to pull off a couple of mulishas, a superman, and even a cordova once, and in between I would just grind every pipe or surface with an edge I could find, and sprinkle a few backflips here and there (thank you, childhood gymnastics). I didn't really expect to medal, since it was my first competition, so I was surprised when I got to the bottom of my run and discovered that I had earned enough points for third place.

"Not bad, rookie," Zoe said as I walked over to the waiting area to watch the last competitor. I honestly didn't know who the last person was…no one did. Well, I think maybe the veterans of the circuit did, but it had definitely been kept hush-hush.

Zoe must have noticed my uncertainty. She smirked. "I like you, Emma. But don't go picking out a display case for that medal just yet."

"Oh?" I said. "Why is that?"

I didn't need an answer, though. A huge roar erupted from the stands as Rahzel began his last introduction of the day.

"Ladies and Gentleman, our last run of the day is sure to be as exciting as the first. Won't you all give it up now for—wait for it—oh my—here he is, SSX fans—back on his first run after an injury last season…"

Rahzel started drawing out the intro with his sound effects, but my heart was already sinking lower as the crowd got louder. I didn't need to watch who was walking out to the start gate. Only one boarder had been injured seriously enough last season to be out for several competitions.

"Folks, give a HUGE SSX welcome home to the Zenmaster himself, Mr. Brodi Ford!"

If it was possible for the crowd to get any louder than it already was, a small sonic b oom erupted as the crowd gave a standing ovation as the tall Greek god, Apollo in a black yin-yang muscle shirt, walked out to the gate waving to the crowd. He tossed his board down and stretched and twisted to warm up. Then he latched his feet in and began zigzagging the board in place to ready himself.

"I didn't know he was back," I said as nonchalantly as I could manage. I thought I'd done a decent job, but from the way Zoe snickered and elbowed Moby, I gathered that I had been staring at the large screen TV too long.

"Oh yeah, he's back. And don't let his being gone fool yah. I saw him practicing. Zen can still kick your ass. And probably will."

And he did. Kicked everyone's ass, actually. He started off with a double backflip and only got better from there. I started to just pack up and go off to my room, but I figured I'd be a sore loser if I didn't hang around to congratulate him.

When he finished and walked back to the waiting area, Zoe ran at him squealing like a schoolgirl.

"Zen!" she cried as he laughed and lifted her off the ground. "You've STILL got it. Congratulations, hot stuff!"

Moby was behind her, looking slightly jealous but still man enough to stick his hand out and offer congratulations. I figured I might as well be next.

"Congratulations," I said simply, sticking out my hand to shake his.

"Thank you," he said warmly, taking my hand and turning it slightly to kiss the back of my hand instead of shaking it. I heard Zoe cackle at the look of surprise on my face.

"Zen, you are still nuts, you know that? You know the effect that charm can have on these new kids."

"No harm if the charm is genuine," he stated, smiling broadly, then returned his attention to me. "Are you staying for the medal ceremony? I'll buy you a drink afterwards."

I thought about it briefly, then accepted. After all, I was a rookie in this field, and I had no reason to be ashamed of being knocked off the podium by a veteran. OK, so it was a veteran on his first run after a severe injury that damned near killed him, but he was still damned good. So I did wait, standing off in the sidelines talking quietly to Eddie as the medals were presented to Brodi, Zoe, and Moby. Applause was impressive for all three of them, but Brodi was definitely getting a warm welcome back to the circuit. Applause was deafening when his name was called and his medal presented to him as he waved to the crowd.

When they exited the stage, he was swarmed by an army of well-wishers. He did the polite meet-and-greet, but was unable to take more than two steps before someone else stopped him. I saw him looking around for me subtly, trying to not be rude to the person in front of him. It was going to take him forever to get away, and I figured he'd be exhausted anyway. I asked Eddie to make my apologies to him and asked for a raincheck.

An hour later I was polishing off a microwave piza when there was a knock at my door. I opened the door to find Brodi standing there holding two steaming mugs.

"Brodi!" I exclaimed, genuinely surprised. "I saw you get trapped, and I figured you'd just be exhausted afterwards."

"Hi Emma. I come bearing a peace offering. I didn't know if you liked tea, so I brought you some hot chocolate."

I stood aside and motioned for him to enter.

"Well, it's certainly gained you admittance. But I was the one who abandoned you. I should come up with the peace offering."

Brodi smiled warmly as I took the mug of hot chocolate. "You just did by allowing me to come in. We can debate blame all night, but I doubt it really matters. Especially since neither of us seems particularly upset."

"True, true. Have a seat." I replied, motioning to the chair that sat beside my bed. "Welcome back to the circuit. And congratulations again…that was an impressive performance."

And on and on went the idle chitchat. It was all so innocent and innocuous that I couldn't tell you what exactly led to what. He had moved over to look at some photographs sitting on my desk, and asked me a question about one. I moved in so I could see which photo he was asking about, and my hand rested on his forearm as I leaned in. We both seemed to notice it at the same time, and my face grew hot.

"I, uh…oh" I stammered. "I'm sorry. I'm not paying attention to boundaries."

Brodi smiled his sweetest smile as he rested his other hand on top of mine. "It's OK. I don't mind."

He lifted my hand again and kissed it, and like a goofy schoolgirl my knees got weak.

"Maybe I'm the one who should be mindful of boundaries." He said simply as he registered the frustrated look on my face.

"No, no. It's just that it's been a while since anyone has really shown any interest in me." I opened my eyes wide and gasped. If my face was hot before, it was boiling now. "Uh, not that you, er, oh…"

I sat down on my bed and buried my face in my hands. "God, I'm sorry. Guys make me nervous, and when I'm nervous I ramble and tend to stick my foot in my mouth. I don't mean to insinuate…"

"It's OK," Brodi touched my shoulder as he sat down beside me. He was smiling, though I could tell he was trying not to. "You are completely adorable when you're embarrassed. Did you know that?"

Great, that comment really helped the situation. I must have really looked freaking adorable just then. I was trying to form a coherent sentence in my brain when I looked up again and noticed that he had leaned in close and was a mere 3-4 inches from my face.

"Will you let me kiss you?" he asked softly.

"Kiss? Me?" I asked stupidly.

Fortunately he didn't wait for an invitation or witty reply. He kissed just the corner of my mouth, but within seconds we were heavily into deep kissing. God, he was good—gentle, tender, and sweet, yet forceful enough to make me want to keep a match going. He was still being a gentleman, though. Much to my frustration his hands were behaving themselves.

"If you're waiting on my permission," I said between gasps the first time we came up for air, "You have it."

He grinned and cupped my face in his hands and moved in for another kiss.

"I really didn't come here to seduce you," he said when he pulled away again.

"That's OK," I said as I took the offensive this time, getting up on my knees on the bed as I leaned in and pushed him back on the pillows. "That's not the reason I let you in, either. "

He started to respond with something, but it was cut off with a gasp as I straddled his lap and took a nibble on his neck. He hissed and bucked up against me, and I knew then he would be ready for anything I wanted to do.

I was in sheer heaven for another few moments, but when I felt Brodi testing the waters by letting his fingertips slide up underneath my tanktop, I instinctively grabbed his wrist and froze. Then I mentally slapped myself in the head, because this was Brodi, after all. I'd only met him a few times, but I knew his reputation for taking decency almost to an extreme. Brodi noticed my hesitation and I will forever swear I felt a change in the air as he flipped his switch to "off" and looked at me intently.

"What's wrong, babe?"

I looked down at my hand on his wrist—my knuckles were white, and the pressure from my grip must have hurt him, but he was making no effort to pull his hand from my grasp. Then I looked back up at him. I was half afraid he'd be angry with me and accuse me of leading him on, but there was only concern on his face. Again my mind went blank and I couldn't seem to formulate a coherent sentence. He rescued me once more by being the one who spoke first. As if he'd read my mind, he began gently.

"Emma? It's OK, honey. I don't want you to do anything you don't want to do. I'm not going to be upset."

I released his wrist and pushed myself up off of his lap to sit beside him. "But I do want to. That's the problem."

Brodi said nothing, but tilted his head and looked at me curiously.

"I guess I need to explain that."

"Not unless you want to." Brodi shook his head. "In my book, if you reach a stopping point, you stop. No questions asked."

I sighed and leaned my head on his shoulder. "This would be easier if you would just be an ass about this. But you're being so nice. And the kissing, it felt so good. I haven't felt that way in ye…in a long while."

I hesitated a moment, then jumped in before I could change my mind. "I know guys have to hear the "it's not you, it's me" speech all the time. But, I, uhm, almost forgot about some things."

"Like what?" he prompted after I fell silent again.

"I just don't want you to be shocked."

"What would I be shocked about? Are you secretly an alien?"

"Very funny."

"Sorry. I just wanted to make you laugh. Hon, it's going to be really difficult to shock me. I don't shock or offend easily."

I looked at him one more time, took a deep breath, then lifted my shirt and pointed to my exposed abdomen.

"I was sick, a lot, when I was younger. Heart surgery by the time I was two, hence this huge line here," I pointed to the bottom of a thick white line that was puncuated by two tiny round scars below it. "It goes all the way up. I've had a couple of minor surgeries since with regards to my heart. In my teenage years I found out I had a precancerous ovarian cyst. My doc was able to save all the stock parts and remove the extra, but that's why I have this, " I pointed to a thin white scar just inside my bellybutton, and to two other smaller ones just above my hips. "Laparoscopic surgery. THEN my gallbladder decides to konk out. That surgeon was able to use some of the same sites, but I also got this," I pointed to a two inch scar crossing my heart surgery scar just below my sternum," and a couple of others that are, thankfully, very faint. I've also had an emergency appendectomy. Both my appendix and my gallbladder were emergency surgeries, so the surgeon wasn't exactly concerned with cosmetics. Not that it matters…I looked like a Frankenstein's monster by the time those came about anyway."

Brodi looked at me sorrowfully for a moment, as if considering how to answer.

"My first thought, " he said slowly, after a moment that felt like an eternity, "is, do I really come across as so shallow? But, " he held his hand up to keep me from interrupting, "That's more about my own insecurities, not you. I hate it that you've had to go through all that, and I am honored that you have trusted me enough to tell me all this."

He settled back in against the wall and pulled me back against him. "Each of these scars," he said, tracing one and then another with a light touch, "is a battle you have wone. To me, that makes you all the more beautiful."

I rested my head on his chest and let him hold me for a few minutes. We sat there wordlessly, and it was a comfortable silence. I felt myself drifting off to sleep in his arms, and I found myself thinking that yes, we did wind up making love. We fell asleep without making out any more or having sex. I slept soundly that night, curled up on my side and feeling his body spooned up against me, his arm draped over me as he entertwined his fingers with mine. At some point around 3am our urges took over and woke us both up out of a sound sleep, and I have to say that it was every bit as enjoyable as I had suspected it would be.

I'd love to be able to tell you that after that short conversation and the night I spent with Brodi, I was magically cured of my insecurities and my many scars no longer bothered me. If this was a movie, we would have married after a long, romantic courtship and had 3 or 4 kids together, each one every bit as athletic as their parents. But this didn't happen, and I'm honestly not disappointed. Brodi and I remain good friends, and we occasionally spend the night together even now, as long as neither of us is in a committed relationship with someone else. But you would be mistaken to call us casual lovers. We are anything but casual, I can promise you that. I would trust Brodi with any part of my life, soul, and being, and I doubt it would have turned out that way had I snagged a medal in that first race.

No, he was not the magic cure for all of my physical and psychological ills. I continue to work on that daily, as do most people in life. But Brodi Ford will always be the single most memorable part of my first SSX Tcircuit race.


End file.
